Thursday, November 08, 2018

Another report from the Independent Police Conduct Authority was released today, finding that police who sped at 200 km/h down a busy Auckland motorway during a pursuit violated pursuit policy in multiple ways and should have been charged with dangerous driving. The full report is here, and the behaviour the officers engaged in was appallingly dangerous and would have resulted in prosecution if any member of the public had done it (here's an example). But the police apparently ignored their own procedures, refusing to even investigate. It's just another example of the police protecting their own, and looking the other way on blatant criminal behaviour simply because the perpetrator wore their uniform. That is not acceptable, and it undermines both the rule of law, and public confidence in law enforcement. Unfortunately, because the IPCA took a whole year to investigate, there's now no possibility of charges: dangerous driving is a category 2 offence, and charges must be filed within six months. The IPCA's slow investigation has precluded that, and allowed these uniformed criminals to escape justice. Which doesn't exactly encourage confidence in them either.